If Only in My Dreams
by Persephone1
Summary: It's Lelouch and Nunnally's first Christmas in Japan. It looks bleak, but with a certain someone's help, they'll be home for Christmas, if only in their dreams. Summer of Joy side story.


**Author's Note:** This all started when **Aki1**, the wonderful writer of "Bird's Eye View", challenged a bunch of writers to come up with a Code Geass Christmas oneshot. I wasn't going to do it at first, but I started to think about it, and the more I thought about it, the more I had to. Originally, I was going to include this in "Summer of Joy", but apparently all challenge responders are going into a fanfiction community, so I thought it would be easier if I made this separate. Anyway, here we go!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Code Geass or this song.

* * *

**If Only in My Dreams**

_I'm dreaming tonight of a place that I love_

_Even more than I usually do_

_And although I know it's a long road back_

_I promise you_

Winter was not a kind season, especially not winter in the Kyoto Prefecture. Lelouch and Nunnally's storehouse offered just enough shelter so that they didn't freeze to death, but beyond that it was rather useless. Suzaku had scrounged up countless blankets for their use, and the siblings had taken to sharing a bed for warmth, but nothing seemed to help.

Most of Lelouch's mind was understandably occupied with trying to prevent hypothermia, but even so, it still seemed amazing that he had forgotten about Christmas. Just last year he had monitored the date closely, counting off the months, days, minutes until Christmas morning. But then, in Britannia you always knew when the Christmas season was near. The sound of bells and carols were a constant presence in the background, there were bright, multicolored lights everywhere you looked, and shoppers would run rampant through department stores, in search of the perfect sale for the perfect gift.

Japan was different. There was no music, no lights, and absolutely no sign of commercialism on steroids. In addition, without school to attend or anything else important to pay attention to besides grocery day and what time Suzaku was coming over, the last couple of months had become an endless stream of days, each one essentially the same as the one before. Lelouch couldn't really be blamed that the holiday had slipped his mind.

However, while he may have forgotten, Nunnally hadn't.

"Suzaku, what is your family doing for Christmas?" she asked, shocking both boys. It was already Christmas Eve, and this was the first time she had ever mentioned it.

"Krismus?" Suzaku asked, tilting his head, "What's that?"

"It's a Britannian holiday," Lelouch explained, "On December 25, families and loved ones get together to eat and exchange gifts to celebrate the birth of Christ."

Lelouch proceeded to give his friend a brief and very abridged version of the Christmas story. He didn't feel like going into depth.

"Oh!" Suzaku said, recognition brightening his eyes, "I've heard of that, but we don't really celebrate it here."

"You don't?" Nunnally asked, obviously surprised. She was a very smart girl, but she was still only eight; only just discovering that the ways of Britannia were not the ways of the world. "Back home, we would always celebrate Christmas with Mother. We would bake cookies, sing carols, and give each other presents."

"My favorite part was always the tree," Lelouch admitted. "It's a tradition to get a pine tree for the house and decorate it with ornaments, strings of tinsel and bright lights, with a gleaming star to top its branches."

"You'd bring a _pine tree_ into your _house_?" Suzaku exclaimed.

Nunnally nodded, her face bright, "And then, on Christmas morning, we'd all gather under it to see what Santa brought for us!"

Seeing that they were on the verge of losing Suzaku again, Lelouch took a moment to hastily explain the whole "Santa" concept.

"I suppose he won't be able to find us all the way in Japan," Nunnally remarked wistfully.

"I'm sorry," Suzaku said quietly, a somber look on his face, "I wish there was something I could do for you."

_I'll be home for Christmas_

_You can count on me_

The girl smiled sweetly, "It's okay, Suzaku. I don't need all that to make Christmas for me. If you could just come over on Christmas morning, I'd be very happy. Between you and Lelouch, what more could I possibly want?"

It was the response of someone much older than her years, but no matter how hard she tried, little Nunnally couldn't hide her faint disappointment.

* * *

It wasn't as if Lelouch didn't want to have Christmas for his sister. He understood how homesick this was making her (him too, though he would never admit it) and would have done anything to give her even the tiniest piece of their Britannian holiday. But there wasn't much Lelouch could do. They only got so much money every month from the homeland, and it all went towards food and clothing. Even if he did have some to spare, there was no way he'd find anything that would fit in with common Christmas traditions. Japan used to have a small Christmas following, but that had disappeared when Britannia began threatening the world.

Lelouch's hands were tied, and as guilty as it made him feel, he was going to have to resign himself to a year without a real Christmas.

* * *

_Please send snow and mistletoe_

_And presents under the tree_

Lelouch's first thought on Christmas morning was that he must still be dreaming. His body felt warm for the first time in over a month, and he could have sworn that he smelled cookies.

He was soon convinced otherwise when a garbled Christmas carol began to blare into his ear.

Lelouch shot out of bed, looking around wildly, half convinced that he was about to be attacked by the wooden soldiers from the Nutcracker. What he saw was a small radio that had obviously seen better days and clearer frequencies. As if this wasn't odd enough, Lelouch eyes quickly made out the room.

Nunnally, who had somehow managed to sleep through a staticky rendition of "Jingle Bells", was quickly awakened by her brother's shocked gasp.

"Lelouch?" she asked groggily, "What is it?"

Lelouch wasn't even sure how to describe it. Somehow, in a single night their room had been transformed. Red and green streamers hung from the ceiling, there was a plate of badly burnt cookies on the table next to the bed, and there was a tiny little Christmas tree leaning against the wall.

It was truly a sad little piece of shrubbery. The few, thin branches it possessed didn't produce nearly enough pine needles to cover up all the empty spots, and if the wall hadn't been there for support, it most likely would have tipped over. It was decorated with a chain of green and red paper links and homely ornaments bearing the mangled countenance of snowflakes, bells, and Santa heads. The tree was topped by a star made of tinfoil, and lit up the room with what appeared to be about a dozen tiny flashlights hanging from the branches.

Sitting next to the pitiful plant, standing almost taller than the tree itself, was a battery powered space heater topped with a bright red bow.

_Christmas Eve will find me_

_When I'm fast asleep_

Lelouch reached out to squeeze his sister's hand.

"Oh Nunnally," he whispered, his voice sounding slightly strangled, "It's beautiful. It's Christmas."

The girl smiled. She couldn't see, but she could hear the music playing, smell the pine and the cookies, feel the bright lights against her closed eyelids.

"Describe it to me," she said quietly.

Lelouch did. He told her everything without any attempt at embellishment, because somehow the crude simplicity made it all the more beautiful.

Nunnally leaned against her brother's shoulder. "I don't think a fancy tree or elaborate presents could have made me this happy," she remarked.

Lelouch nodded, "But who could have…"

"Good morning!" Suzaku called, startling the Britannian siblings. He was visiting as promised. He hadn't knocked. He never did.

Suzaku's gaze roamed around the room, eyes wide, "Whoa! When did this all get here?"

Lelouch shrugged, "I don't know. It must have happened while we were asleep, but who could have done this without waking us up?"

"It was Santa!" Nunnally declared with startling conviction.

Lelouch stared at her, "Santa?"

"Of course! Who other than Santa could have done all this in one night? It had to be Santa!" Nunnally insisted.

Suzaku smiled, "Well it looks like he found you guys after all!"

Lelouch was still in a moment of silent contemplation, but then he smiled.

"This calls for pancakes!" he declared

Nunnally looked at her brother questionably, "Pancakes?"

"I bought some pancake mix a while ago. I was saving it for a special occasion. Suzaku, would you mind helping me?"

"Sure," Suzaku replied with a shrug.

Only when he was certain that Nunnally was preoccupied with running her fingers through the tree and sampling one of the black, rock hard cookies, did Lelouch pull Suzaku aside to whisper into his ear:

"You have pine needles in you hair."

_I'll be home for Christmas_

_If only in my dreams_

* * *

**Author's Note: **As we all know, Suzaku is a ninja and could have totally set up the little Christmas scene without waking anyone. And made a bunch of ornaments and cookies in a single night, as well as chopping down a small tree. Well, it's not like anyone claimed he was a normal nine year old, right? This is also my very first songfic, though I did change a few of the lyrics to fit the story better. I'm sorry about that, but in my defense, they still work, and I actually thought that they were the actual lyrics before I looked them up.

**Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Saturday. I believe I covered all my bases, right?**


End file.
